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Buy This Item Front by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $9.98  on 11-17-2008     <I>The Front</I> is both a comic delight and perhaps the most graceful act of show business revenge in cinema history. Written by, directed by, and starring various talents blacklisted during the McCarthy-era witch hunts of the 1950s entertainment industry, the film stars Woody Allen as Howard, a cashier and bookie approached by blacklisted television-writer Alfred (Michael Murphy) to act as a "front," i.e., the alleged author of Alfred's works. The scam proves hugely successful. Soon Howard is fronting for several other banned writers, taking a cut from every sale to the networks, and basking in praise (and romantic attentions) for his prolific talent. It all unravels when congressional investigators dig into Howard's past for Communist ties and squeeze him to name others with supposed links to the Red Menace. <I>The Front</I> is charming, tragic, heroic, and briskly intelligent, featuring a heartbreaking performance by Zero Mostel and directed by Martin Ritt (<I>Hud</I>). <I>--Tom Keogh</I> Reader Reviews I'm so glad to see all those praising reviews, and just one which tells us a little more about it... What can we say ? Communist sympathisers in the 50s depicted in the film didn't know a thing about stalinism... they all were about helping out poor people... then why not helping Eastern Europe ? Didn't those people deserve to be helped ? But no, there was no such thing as communist Europe, all those poor dumb people were liberated by the Red Army who had the politeness to stay and help them out... and the CPUSA was such a free party, which never had a nickle from Uncle Joe... what a wonderful world... and the Rosenbergs were innocent, of course... don't forget : it's only a 1971 movie. Only ?

Front Available from Amazon Price: $9.98 Updated on 11-17-2008.

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